40 days of Community is all about growing in our love for God and for others. Last week we learned that we need each other. There is power in groups of people getting together and doing life together! Today we want to see that we need to reach out together. There is a world around us that is in need of hearing and responding to the Good News of Jesus Christ and it is our responsibility and privilege to partner together, as a group, to do this. Rick Warren uses the word PARTNER to help us see what we need to do to help us reach out together. Remember we are Better Together!

P – Pray. Pray Together. Ask your group to pray for your friends and family who have yet to respond to the Gospel. Pray for opportunities to share with them the Good News about God.

A – Appeal.  Appeal to common interests. Find out what you, as a group, have in common, what you like to do. Make a list of those things and then talk about who you know that would also like to do something on that list who isn't yet a believer and invite them to join you.

R – Reach out in love. We are told to  'love your neighbor as yourself.' The old saying is true, "people don't care what you know until they know you care." Let God's love flow through you.

Ask God to give you a deeper love for other people. 

T – Tell your stories. The most effective way to let other people know about the great things that God can do in their lives is to tell them the story of what God has done in your life.  That is what makes a difference.

N - Nurture friendships. Just build friendships with them so you can build a bridge between your heart and theirs and Jesus Christ can walk across. Build a bridge that is strong enough to bear the weight of the testimony you want to share.

E - Expect God to act.  Expect God to do what only God can do-- change hearts and lives.

R – Represent Christ with your life. We need to walk the walk and talk the talk. We need to communicate God's love and we need to demonstrate God's love. We need to live it in our life and we need to share it with our mouth.

What is sharing the good news?  It’s one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread. May we realize that we are Better Together and may we choose to  PARTNER together in an effort to reach our community!